Acquainted With The Night

Individuals, who feel isolated, aren’t necessarily by themselves; they could be surrounded by people but can’t find it in them to communicate with another individual. The poem, “Acquainted with the Night”, by Robert Frost explores the loneliness and despair associated with depression. Furthermore, the poem uses symbolism, irony, and metaphors to convey the perspective and response of Robert Frost towards a crisis and how it defines the writer. Due to Frost’s usage of symbolism throughout the poem, allowing the reader to catch a glimpse of the text, the reader is able to relate to the poet’s situation. Such as, “I have walked out in the rain- and back in rain”.

Frost used several different words in the poem as metaphors because they were used to describe something else. For example rain, was used for the meaning of sadness or sorrow. Night, was used for describing depression or loneliness. Luminary clock, represented the light of the moon. The watchmen, I believe meant for judgment within himself. Light, represented hope. Putting meaning to the metaphors that Frost used helps you to really get a better understanding of the poem.

Frost further points out that the stretch of woods being viewed is very rural. This is made possible by the reference to the location between the woods and frozen lake. In closing the final sentence of the second stanza Frost reiterates the fact that this occurs on “the darkest evening of the year” stating the darkness of the mood.

Both Dickinson and Frost approach their darkness with a sense of rhythm. In Dickinson’s poem, the “uncertain step” of line 5 is conveyed through

The two poems “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Acquainted with the Night” written by Robert Frost are very similar to each other because of the simplistic form of language used and the uses of metaphors. When we first read the poem, it looks like an ordinary poem but once we go in depth and understand the meaning, it becomes so much more. Both of the poem has a very dark, gloomy and lonely setting with a really mysterious tone. There are different metaphors used in each poem to symbolize death; “Sleep” in “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Night” in “Acquainted with the Night.” The characters in the two poem are both in a journey and has come

Frost’s poem is written in a three-line stanza which is linked by a rhyme scheme that goes across the stanzas in the poem. The first stanza is structured ABA, the second is BCB, the third stanza is CDC, while the last two are DD. Frost also writes the poem in an almost perfect iambic pentameter, for example the stressed syllables in this line are as follows: I have been one acquainted with the night. The steady rhyme scheme could echo the steps the speaker takes on the pavement. The poem sounds sad but it does have a beat to it, the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables are soft yet it does sound like human footsteps. The sound of the poem tends to mimic the sound of a pendulum of a clock or the moons circular motion. Repetition does play a big part in this poem, and with certain lines it emphasis the weariness and dark depressing night.

Despite its possibly being the more difficult path, Frost signifies the essence of perseverence through rhythm. Throughout the poem, Frost employs a repetitive, trance-like rhythm to compliment the speaker's struggle to fight off reality and remain in his carefree world. Furthermore, Jhan Hochman explains it as "an ingenious form of interlocking rhyme: the third unrhymed line of the first three stanzas provokes the subsequent stanza's rhymed sound" (Hochman 4). Frost's use of rhythm is an eloquent and clever element that expresses the weak and weary state of the speaker in his moment of a life-changing decision. Yet, in the last stanza frost brings his flowing lines to an abrupt halt with "But I have promises to keep" (Frost 13). With this line, Frost not only shifts the meter of the poem, but also signifies the speaker's realization that he cannot give up or quit because of the life commitments he has made. Frost powerfully uses the rhythm in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" to emphasize the importance of choosing the path of life and all of its responsibilities instead of the easy way out.

Frost uses a multitude of poetic devices, including metaphors, irony, symbolism, hyperbole, and personification “Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. to vividly reinforce the desolation in the mind and the surroundings of the speaker. The uncertainty of the time in the end is a reflection of the uncertainty in the duration of isolation that the speaker would have to continue to endure. In conclusion, this poem displays the transition into night figuratively as the author experiences a broken heart. I have been one acquainted with the night.” (V,2 ). This is a beautiful and dark poem that describes the somber emotions that an individual endures after a separation. This poem can be relatable to anyone as we all have experienced some type of sorrow. Hopefully after experiencing something of this nature we can see the bright lights after being acquainted with the

     Last stanza of the poem talks about the emptiness that is so overwhelming that even when Frost looks up to the sky, all that he could see or feel is still loneliness and emptiness. But then Frost mentions that the emptiness or loneliness that he fears the most isn’t the one that exist on

Right at the beginning of the poem, Frost’s unnamed speaker declares that they “have been one acquainted with the night” (Frost 1). The word acquainted implies a relationship that, while not unfriendly, lacks the close emotional connection often seen in friendship while the night itself, despite often being characterized as a symbol of death and darkness, can also be seen as a time of quiet, meditation, and peace free from the chaos of city life. Therefore, when the speaker says they “have been one acquainted

The poem is a first person narrative, where the author is the speaker. Frost uses words such as “fire” and “ice” to as a metaphor to describe the different manners in which the world will end; through the “fire” of passion or the “ice” of hatred. Frost uses a unique rhyme scheme to help lighten the subject and disguise the conversation as playful. The imagery in the poem helps Frost tell the reader about how he would “hold with those who favor fire. / But if it had to perish twice/… that for the destruction of ice/… would suffice.”

The issue of symbolism can indicate that being acquainted with the night is a metaphor that emphasizes that the speaker is actually familiar with darkness and is depressed and lonely. A person who suffers from depression may also experience happiness but usually ends up getting sucked backed into the darkness. In "Acquainted with the Night" Frost expresses how he has "walked out of the rain - and back in the rain.../looked down the saddest city lane" (Frost lines 2 and 4.) The rain in this case can symbolize his experience with depression and how he

The poems “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark” and “Acquainted with the Night” both correlate night and depression, however they differ in tone. In “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost, the narrator is trapped by depression. This struggle is represented by Dante Alighieri's rhyme scheme and the repetition of the first and last lines. By paralleling the Divine Comedy, the narrator is comparing his current depression to the stagnation of limbo. Oppressed by this persistent despondency, “Acquainted with the Night” adopts a hopeless, tired tone.

The night symbolized death, and the walk was the person's journey to find their lost life. This poem was somewhat disturbing to me. I thought of a lost soul, thirsting to finish a mission that was not completed in life. Frost depicts death in a frightening manner with the contents of this piece of work.

Poetry is a literary medium which often resonates with the responder on a personal level, through the subject matter of the poem, and the techniques used to portray this. Robert Frost utilises many techniques to convey his respect for nature, which consequently makes much of his poetry relevant to the everyday person. The poems “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ and “The mending wall” strongly illuminate Frost’s reverence to nature and deal with such matter that allows Frost to speak to ordinary people.